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There was a little bit of everything in Sunday night’s showdown between Florida and Chinese Taipei, including a wild error late in the game that allowed Florida to capture the Little League World Series championship.
The title game ended up in extra innings with Florida winning the game 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth inning and marking the first time that a team from the Sunshine State had won the tournament championship.
But that didn’t come without drama, first in the form of a bad call by the first base umpire in the sixth and then a dramatic error in the ninth.
The game-winning play itself was a dramatic moment with the winning run scoring because of a fielding error by the Chinese Taipei team.
Florida’s Hunter Alexander laid down a bunt that both the Chinese Taipei pitcher and first baseman went to play.
The pitcher grabbed the ball and instinctually threw it to first, but no one was there to cover and the ball sailed into no man’s land allowing the winning run to score.
The blow call came in the sixth inning came with Florida down by one run and trying to keep their championship dreams alive.
With a runner on first and one out, a Florida batter was called out on strikes when the first base ump ruled that he had swung, despite an attempt to hold up.
The only problem with the call was that it was evident to just about everyone that he didn’t swing and should have been called out.
The home plate umpire called on the first base ump to make the decision since he should have had a better view of the swing.
The Chinese Taipei fans celebrated the call, but Florida did manage to tie the game up and force extra innings, where they pulled a victory.
Lake Mary is the 24th team from Florida to qualify for the Little League World Series and only five Florida teams have ever won the US bracket, according to Florida Today.
